Reminiscing
by Somebody's Dark Angel
Summary: “Remember the time he had one too many, and hit on Nav in front of the boss?” Buffer asked, pointing his glass at Swain. The crew remember ET.


**Reminiscing**

"Remember the time he had one too many, and hit on Nav in front of the boss?" Buffer asked, pointing his glass at Swain.

Charge snorted. "Which time?"

Buffer paused, pondering the question. "Good point."

"You mean the dirty dancing?" Swain broke in, causing Bomber and Spider's heads to turn abruptly.

"Dirty dancing? The Nav?" Spider's voice was incredulous.

"They'd both had more than their fair share of drinks," Swain explained, finishing the rest of his beer.

"Nav loves dancing, even when she's sober, but she doesn't do it often around the crew," Buffer seamlessly took over the story, smirking at the fascinated expressions of Spider and Bomber. "ET pulled her onto the dance floor after she beat him in a shooting contest, and he barely let her move more than a foot away from him."

"Not that she was complaining all that much," Charge took his turn as Buffer went to help Swain bring back the next round. "We could all see the attraction between them, even since Nikki first stepped foot on the ship, but he never bragged about her once they did finally get together." He paused, thinking. "Come to think of it, we should have figured something different was going on. ET always bragged about his conquests."

"Like that girl in Bali," Buffer began, passing out the new beers. "We're in port for two hours, and he managed to get this chick to take him home. And not just any chick, she was absolutely smoking."

The three petty officers shook their heads at the memory, wistful smiles on their faces. Spider held up his beer. "To ET, and his amazing way with the ladies."

Bomber rolled her eyes, but held her own glass up to Spider's. "To ET."

"He was good with the girls," Charge agreed, as they all clinked glasses.

"But he was also damn good with electronics." Bomber swallowed quickly, intent on turning the conversation away from ET's sexual exploits before Nav showed up…if she did at all. "He fixed my iPod when the Apple guy said it was dead and gone. And the time he fixed the coffee maker, before I even knew it was broken."

Swain looked at her oddly. "Then how did you know he did anything to it?"

"Nav," she replied simply, and everyone nodded in understanding. They all knew ET would never have let Nav go without coffee for any longer that absolutely necessary.

"What about me?" came a voice from behind them. To Bomber's surprise Nav was standing there, flanked by Kate and Mike. Her eyes were no longer red; the first time since that fateful morning.

"Reminiscing about ET," Swain answered succinctly, smiling hesitantly, unsure if the mention of his name would set her off again.

The sadness was evident in her blue-green eyes, but the tears remained at bay as she took a seat next to Spider and stole a sip of his beer. There was an awkward silence as Mike took drink orders for the new arrivals, and another round for the others. Bomber and Spider exchanged a look, waiting for one of the older sailors to take the lead in restarting the conversation. But the person who finally broke the silence wasn't who anyone expected.

"He's scared of horses," Nav spoke up, a fond smile on her face.

"Horses?" Charge asked incredulously, as Buffer choked on his beer.

She nodded. "He was thrown off as a kid, never got back on. Hasn't ridden, or even been near a horse since." If anyone noticed her use of present tense, they made no comment, instead focusing on this new information about ET.

Kate took her glass of wine off Mike, shaking her head. "ET afraid of horses. Who'd have thought."

"I'm curious, how did you come by this information?" Buffer asked. "We've known him for years, and -" he cut himself off when he finally understood the meaning behind Swain's frantic waving – bringing up Nav and ET's relationship probably wasn't the wisest move.

But for whatever reason, this implication didn't cause Nav to break down the way she had so often over the past few days. Instead she just shot Buffer a raised eyebrow and smirked at him. "How do you think?"

Taken aback, Buffer blinked rapidly a few times, opening and closing his mouth like a fish, before he tried to cover it up by taking a sip of his beer. Everyone else chuckled, Spider elbowing Buffer cheekily.

"He loved diving so much, I'd swear he was part fish," Mike spoke up, throwing a cautious glance at Nav.

Tears were forming in her eyes, leading Kate to wrap an arm around her friend's shoulders. "We all miss him, Nik."

Nav nodded. "Well, if he had to die, at least it was doing something he loved." Blinking back the tears, her voice wobbled as she raised her drink in a toast. "To Josh Holiday."


End file.
